Carlisle United are delighted to announce a new partnership with Cumberland FA offering support and learning opportunities for coaches in Cumberland.
The foundations of the partnership have been based on feedback from Cumberland FA’s recent coaches survey.
Starting in January 2025, coaches from Carlisle United will be delivering four coaching workshops in a Grassroots England Football Accredited Club environment on a topic of the club’s choice. Sessions will be a mixture of practical delivery as well as online support and delivery.
These events will run alongside Cumberland FA’s generic Continuous Professional Development workshops and the Female Coach Development Group around the county during the season, and will also include remote support from Carlisle United UEFA B & A coaches through the Cumberland FA Coaches Community during the 2024/25 season and beyond.
The aims of the partnership are:
· Provide coaches and clubs within Cumberland with CPD opportunities
· Chances for coaches to gain insight into Carlisle United’s programme and work
· Develop links between grassroots clubs and coaches, Carlisle United FC and Cumberland FA
In the Cumberland FA's coaches feedback survey, they asked if there were any specific workshop topics or development opportunities in addition to what the FA offer; these were some of the responses, which has helped shape the brand new partnership:
· More sessions relating to the full 11v11 format and youth development phase of the game
· The ability to watch and discuss professional clubs' age group training sessions
· Development opportunities from EFL coaching staff at grassroots
· Negative impact of positioning players from an early age and the role of coach positivity in the game
Ray Sempill, Coach Development Lead at Cumberland FA commented on the new partnership, saying: “We are really excited about this new partnership for 2025. Steven, Chris and the coaching team at Carlisle United have put together a comprehensive programme of support and coach education opportunities to run alongside the core FA courses and CPD events, based on responses from coaches to our recent survey.
"We look forward to getting started.”
United's Academy Manager, Steven Rudd added: "We are delighted to be able to work with the Cumberland FA to provide opportunities for coaches within Cumberland to gain an insight into our Academy.
"It is vital that there are strong links between Carlisle United, Cumberland FA and all of the grassroots teams within Cumberland.
"We hope to be able to support and help grassroots coaches with all of the invaluable work they do within their clubs.
"The sessions will be aimed at coaches working with all age groups from the under-6s right through to the under-18s.
"We look forward to getting started in January and hope to see as many people attend as possible".
